Dairygold to power plants with solar energy from Cork grain supplier's farm
Dairygold's head of sustainability Orlaith Tynan, chairman Sean O’ Brien, supplier Michael Quirk, and interim CEO Michael Harte. Picture: Gerard McCarthy
Dairygold has become the first dairy processor in Ireland to sign a corporate power purchase agreement with one of its own farmer members.
The agreement between Dairygold and local grain supplier Michael Quirk will see Dairygold purchase 5,000 MWh per year of renewable solar energy from Lurrig Solar Farm, located on Mr Quirk's farm in Aghada, Co Cork, to provide electricity for Dairygold’s processing operations.
Mr Quirke developed the solar farm on his farmland in 2022.
Dairygold interim chief executive Michael Harte said: "We’re delighted to enter this agreement with Lurrig Solar Farm.
"It is the first of its kind in the industry and brings together a leading dairy co-operative with a farmer supplier to source locally produced renewable electricity for Dairygold’s world-class dairy processing facilities."
On signing the agreement, Dairygold supplier and Lurrig Solar Farm owner Michael Quirk said: "When we began farming here at Lurrig, the renewable energy industry did not exist, but today it is a central facet in all of our lives."
Mr Quirke added that he hopes this announcement "will serve as encouragement for farmers to embrace opportunities in this area".
It was announced late last year that Dairygold and Tirlán are collaborating to roll out Tirlán’s renewable energy solutions programme FarmGen to Dairygold suppliers across the Munster region.
Tirlán first launched its FarmGen Solar PV programme in 2019.
Dairygold suppliers can also now avail of the solar PV programme as part of the switch to renewable energy solutions to reduce on-farm emissions and lower energy bills.
The solar-powered bundle is available through the programme’s technical partner, PV Generation.
It will supply and install solar PV systems along with smart monitoring on farms. As part of this solution, FarmGen will manage the Government’s TAMS and SEAI grant application processes and submission for competitively-priced financing if required.
The bespoke FarmGen systems are specifically designed to power energy-intensive processes on farms, such as milk cooling, vacuum pumps, water heating and more.
